PhoenixDreams
by daisukefire
Summary: A Ruki epic. What will Ruki find in the Digital World when she leaves the others in search of perfection? Will she help some Digimon in peril, or will her lust for battle be her demise…


_Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  This plot is mine however._

_Author's Note:  I wrote this because lately I've become obsessed with Ruki's character.  And honestly, the majority of fics I've seen don't portray her very well.  They make her too weak!  _

This takes place somewhere after Episode 28, which hasn't been shown in the USA yet.  In order for most readers to understand the plot, I have to provide a little background, which includes tiny spoilers.  They aren't big, but **if you don't want to hear a spoiler then skip the rest of this paragraph.  Basically Rika (called by her Japanese name, Ruki, in this story) and Takato's friends get separated from the group in the Digital World.  They somehow get stuck in the clouds, where a Megadramon attacks.  Ruki and Renamon get their butts kicked and this other Tamer, Ryou (known as the Legendary Tamer), shows up and easily beats the Megadramon.  This makes Ruki mad for some reason and she and Renamon leave the group.  **

            There are two name differences in this story, because I like the Japanese names better than the English.  

            _Ruki = Rika  (I hate the name Rika!) ^^_

_            D-Ark = D-power (how'd the dubbers come up with that?  What a weird name for a digivice O_o)_

            Pretty much everything else is from the English version.  I would like to thank Silver for Beta reading.  Enjoy the fic. ^_^* 

_Dedication:  This is dedicated to Logan, who thinks Ruki is the Anti-Sora.  I intend to prove him wrong (or right, however you wish to interpret it).  ^^_

I'm dying to know what you think of my work, email me at: daisukefire@yahoo.com

PhoenixDreams Chapter Itchi: Guardian of Light By DaisukeFire 

**_Her spirit burns itself,_**

**_Hoping to achieve dreams of perfection,_**

**_Killing the old with a fiery passion,_**

**_And birthing the evolution of desire,_**

**_From the ashes of dark death_**

**_She arises more beautiful than before,_**

**_Flames pouring from her body,_**

**_Her heart flowing with power…_**

The silver planet glowed brightly as it hovered in the sky above, an occasion beam of scarlet light shooting from it and impaling the landscape below.  It was a beautiful and wondrous site.  The moon that hovered in the Earth's sky was just a tiny fraction the size of this planet that dominated the sky.  The girl stared at it, finding it hard to believe that it was Earth.  She lowered her head and stared off into the distant horizon.  A fraction of light glimmered from her amethyst irises, shinning toward the mountain to her right.  The slight, cocky squint in her eyes complemented the frown that was always on her face.  If the shape of her lips ever changed, they would return to the frown, as if by reflex.  She wore a white shirt with turquoise sleeves and a yellow, turtle neck-like collar.  On the shirt was an oceanic blue heart torn down the middle.  She wore dark blue jeans and had a thick leather belt rapped around her waist, and two more wrapped tightly around her left thigh.  Her shoes were red, with metallic plating at each toe.  A sharp wind caressed the cherry hair of her spiked ponytail, as well as the glossy jade leaves of the tree she leaned against.  The bark of the tree was rough on her back, but not unbearable.  

            She shut her eyelids as she thought of the event that had taken place in the clouds, and her failure to defeat Megadramon.  Technically it wasn't her failure; it was her partner's.  But since her partner drew strength from her, the Tamer, it was her fault for the embarrassment.  The girl guessed she should be thankful; she and the others could be dead right now.  Dead… she almost wished that she were.  Seeing that boy with the spiky, brown hair and lame armor plating on his arm seal the Megadramon back into its cloud prison with ease, while she and her partner had barely survived, was a major blow to the honor she had always felt.  That was why she had left them…

            "Stupid goggle-head… I'll show him," the girl mumbled spitefully to herself.  Then, just to rub it in, the boy had offered to accompany her and the others.  She could have taken care of the group just fine by herself.  On the other hand, her partner wasn't even able to stay in Ultimate form for a long period, and couldn't even reach that stage without that obnoxious -but cute- Calumon, while his Digimon was perpetually an Ultimate.  Obviously her partner was far stronger than his at all levels, but even the strongest Champion Digimon still has trouble competing with an Ultimate.  So the problem lay hidden somewhere in her, she was the weakness.  If the 'legendary tamer' had been able to evolve his partner to that state permanently, without the help of some hyper little baby Digimon concerned only with the fun-factor of life, then why couldn't she?

            The girl let out a sigh and called out, "Renamon, have you found anything yet?"

            There was a loud rush through the branches and leaves of the tree as her partner landed in front of her with the grace of a ninja.  A shower of torn leaves followed, layering the ground.  The azure eyes of the creature stared deep into the girl's eyes.  Its white chest ruff danced with the wind, and its tail batted around non-rhythmically.  There were various twigs and shreds of leaf stuck in the yellow fur of the humanoid fox.  It wore thick, purple gloves on each of its hands.  From the ends of gloves protruded three fingers, each with razor sharp claws embedded in them.  

Renamon answered, "I didn't see anything over there," she motioned her left arm in the direction away from the mountains.  "And I saw a few small pillars of smoke over there," she pointed towards the mountains, "but that's it.  What exactly are we looking for, Ruki?"

            Ruki pulled some violet tinted shades from her pocket and covered her determined eyes with them.  She began to walk in the direction Renamon had pointed, toward the mountains, and called back to her partner, "Let's go, Renamon."

*******

Gray spirals of smoke rose from the shattered ruins of what was once a Digimon village.  Ruki monitored the details of destruction with glacial eyes, searching for hints at what kind of villain might be responsible for the attack.  Splintered wooden planks were strewn over the earth, many massed in heaps of burning rubble from what appeared to have once been crudely built houses.  

            "Renamon," Ruki asked in a mechanical tone, "do you sense any living Digimon."

            Renamon closed her eyes, "No, whatever Digimon lived here have been killed or have run away.  It's empty."

            "Well, whatever deleted all of these Digimon seems to have been powerful."

            "What do you want to do Ruki?"

            Ruki frowned, "It's called spontaneity Renamon, we'll do the first thing that comes to our minds.  And right now I think we should rest.  Besides, if any of the villagers survived, then they might come back her to see if they can salvage anything.  That is when we'll find out what happened here."  The yellow fox nodded in agreement, and the two lay down on some upturned dirt to rest.

            The darkness had set.  Most of the fires had calmed their rage and now burned only as coals, sparking with a vicious red aura.  Ruki had drifted in and out of sleep, too much plaguing her mind to dream peacefully.  She lie with her head on Renamon's soft belly, staring at the glowing planet that inhabited the sky.  The cloth of Renamon's purple gloved, folded paws pressed gently against Ruki's face.  Ruki ignored the touch.

            "Ruki," Renamon whispered.  Ruki turned her head towards her partner's face, and noticed Renamon's ears twitching.  "Listen," was Renamon's only comment.

            Ruki quietly lifted her head off Renamon's belly and strained her ears to pick up on what it was Renamon was hearing.  At first she heard nothing.  Then, gradually, she perceived the sound of steps, and something that seemed like… dragging.  The two waited silently for what kind of Digimon might be approaching the ruined village.  Ruki peered over a mound of the upturned earth and watched the direction the sound was coming from.  

            It was dark, but the light bursts from the fires provided enough visibility to see the oncoming Digimon as they entered the village from a mountain path.  The first one to enter the ruins of the village was a small creature made out of stones.  It seemed to be forced to march ahead of the creature to follow.  Ruki checked her D-Ark, which created a holographic image of the first creature.  _Gotsumon: Rookie level, read underneath the image.  The second creature appeared to be a large tree that walked on its roots, creating the dragging sound as it pulled the roots that didn't move along with it.  The image emitted from the D-Ark changed to a hologram of the tree: __Woodmon: Champion level     The Woodmon was using one of its branches as a whip to slash at the terrified Gotsumon.  Ruki heard it laugh and demand, "Start calling out to see if any of your companions who got away came back."_

            Another slash and the Gotsumon called out in a terrified voice, "I-Is anyone here?"  The Woodmon whipped him again and told him to add more.  "I-I managed to escape from them, did anyone else?"

            There was no answer.  Ruki's eyes burned with hatred.  She had been emotionless when she and Renamon entered this ruined town.  They had been to late to help as it was.  But now that she saw the acts of cruelty actually taking place, she realized that these creatures, that were living things, didn't deserve to be treated with such cruelty.  She also wanted a good fight, something to build her bruised confidence back up a little.  Either way her heart moved her to help the victim.

            "No one's h-here," the Gotsumon choked fearfully to his torturer.  

            "Then you're of no more use," laughed the Woodmon, raising one of its branches for a final deathblow.  

            "Hey ugly," Ruki called arrogantly from behind the creature's back, Renamon kneeling, head bowed, at her side.  The Woodmon turned around to face her, a surprised look on its face.   The Gotsumon bent a little, trying to see around the tree Digimon, hoping to get a glance at what the voice belonged to.  The cherry haired girl's lips bent just a little to form a smirk, her eyes staring detestably into those of the Woodmon.  "Why don't you try picking on someone your own size?"

            The Woodmon glanced at the girl, and then to her partner Digimon, "You want a fight, do ya?" he laughed and began waving one of his branches in an inviting manner, "then bring it on beautiful!"

            "Gladly," Renamon chuckled and quickly leapt toward her opponent, her right paw drawn back for a powerful strike.  The Woodmon's eyes widened as if he hadn't anticipated a strike this quick.  His reactions were so slow that the only option he had was to try and cover himself with his branches.  

Ruki laughed inside, that could hardly be called a defense tactic.  

Renamon blasted her paw hard into the Woodmon's face, breaking any branches he had used to block her and tearing a large gash in his face with her claws in the process.  The tree Digimon crashed through the air and back towards the forest, colliding into the trunk of a tree.  He lay there, dazed, for a moment.  Then he got up and began to retreat toward the path leading up the mountain.  Renamon glanced at Ruki, who nodded with approval.  

Leaping high into the air, just slightly behind the Woodmon, Renamon folded her arms across her chest and curled slightly into a ball, and closed her eyes.  Thousands of crystalline shards formed in the air around her, each of them glowing with an icy texture.

            "Please, mercy!" the Woodmon cried as he saw his attacker preparing to delete him, fear rung in his voice.  

The yellow fox ignored his plea, and burst out from her balled position, crying, "Diamond Storm!"  The Woodmon's eyes widened in horror as the shards began to dash from her side in rapid succession.  Each of the darts deeply impaled his pulpy wood.  A freezing pain tore through the Woodmon's body, and then it became a consuming numbness.  His wooden lips curled, contorted and snapped as a raspy moan of defeat escaped his lips, and then his body shattered into millions of tiny data fragments.  Renamon floated in the air, her chest heaved forward and her eyes closed.  A light blue aura formed around her body.  Each of fragments of shattered data were drawn toward the aura, as if it were a magnetic field.  They were absorbed into the aura.  As Renamon's body absorbed the last bit of data, the aura disappeared.  Renamon open her eyes, which were gleaming with the radiance of victory, and landed lightly on the ground.  

Ruki smirked; the fight had been too easy.  That Woodmon had been nothing but a cruel coward, and didn't deserve mercy from anyone.  Yet it had felt good to prove her superiority again.  

"Excellent," she said as her partner journeyed back to her side.  Then she looked at the Gotsumon whom she and Renamon had rescued.  It was shaking violently against the stump of a tree, its eyes pouring out fear.  Ruki approached it and bent her face down to get a closer look.  "We're not going to hurt you, we just want some answers."

The Gotsumon gulped nervously and replied, "You shouldn't have done that, now he's going to be angry."

The girl stared at him, her eyes dominated with annoyance, "Is that the normal way you treat some who saved your life?"

Letting out a yelp of fear the Gotsumon tried backing further up the tree.  Ruki wanted to laugh at this pathetic, weak and tiny creature.  But as she looked into its tear-stained, yellow eyes, she felt something.  It was as if she had made some sort of connection with it.  She felt all the sorrow, pain and terror it was experiencing.  It had lost relatives and friends in the attack of its village.  Death had just barely passed it by a moment ago.  And now she, this merciless demon, towered over it, demanding it to forget all the troubles it had undergone, and threatening it for answers it was afraid to provide.

Ruki stood up, and squinted angrily.  She turned her back to the creature and called over her shoulder, "I was just looking for whatever Digimon destroyed this place.  Renamon and I need a good fight.  But seeing as how you don't want to cooperate, we'll just have to find a different powerful Digimon to fight."  She walked away from the Gotsumon.  "Renamon," she ordered, and Renamon began to follow.

After a few seconds the Gotsumon cried out to her, "Wait!"  Ruki and Renamon turned around simultaneously, observing the movements of the little rock creature as it ran towards them.  "T-there are two really powerful ones up in the mountains.  They're the ones that destroyed our village."

"Good," Ruki said coldly, "that's the kind of answer I was looking for."

The Gotsumon nodded humbly, "Those of us that weren't destroyed were taken up there as prisoners.  The two up there and the one you just destroyed are a band that defies the Sovereign.  They attacked us because we are a faithful village to the Sovereign."

Ruki held her hand up in a motion signaling the Gotsumon to stop talking.  She closed her eyes and said, "I didn't ask for details, and I don't care about saving your little friends.  You can do that after I've defeated the two Digimon.  But now you're going to be our guide."

The Gotsumon's jaw swung open and he cried, "But I can't go back up there, please don't make me!"

"You're taking us up there whether you like it or not.  I'm not about to ask you for directions up a mountain."  She sighed, "You won't be doing any fighting anyways, that's all for Renamon and myself.  So you don't have anything to be afraid of."

The Gotsumon nodded and began walking toward the path up the mountain saying, "It's this way."

Ruki and Renamon followed the stone creature.  Renamon bent down and whispered into Ruki's ear, "Are you sure this is a good idea?  We have no idea what's up there, and I can't Digivolve to my Ultimate form."

Ruki stared at the Gotsumon as it ran up the path, seeming to almost ignore Renamon. "Do you doubt me, Renamon?"

"No."

"We'll be fine, you're strong enough to handle anything.  And besides, its not like we have anything else to do.  I'm not about to go and try to find those goggle-heads.  Not yet, anyways."

Renamon nodded, "If that's what you want to do…"

*******

The path up the mountain was rough with foliage and various rocks that were difficult to maneuver around.  It had a steep gradient which made the travel much more tiresome.  The Gotsumon didn't seem bothered by the roughness of the path.  It was running, just to stay ahead Ruki and Renamon.  It weaved around stumps and boulders, hopped over any fallen trees in the path, and it was wearing Ruki's nerves thin with its constant thanks.  She wished that they could just ditch the little pain, but they did need a guide to the hideout of those Digimon.  

A thin mist began to form as they made their way up the mountain.  Then the mist turned into a light fog.  The glow from the planet above made the youthful night seem eerie.  Ruki loved it.  This was the kind of night that Ruki liked.  It had a sort of dead feeling to it, a feeling that would make most people uneasy.  She loved the thrill of danger lurking around every unknown corner.  Just like the days when she had hunted wild Digimon in the streets late in the night.

            Her skin tingled as the cool mist hugged it.  She wasn't tired from the walking.  In order to be a good Tamer, one must be in excellent physical as well as mental health.  Whenever she wasn't fighting or in school, she was training, working hard to be come the best Tamer that ever existed.  She would prove that she was stronger than Ryo.  She was, after all, the "Digimon Queen."

            She jetted to the side to avoid a rock that had appeared out of the dark fog just an instant before.  Renamon, who was just a few steps behind, leapt over it with amazing reaction speed.  She landed just a few feet behind Ruki once again.  

            Ruki let out an annoyed sigh, it seemed like they had been walking for hours.  She called ahead to their guide, "Hey, are we almost there yet?  This is getting really boring.  Do we have to walk all the way to the peak or something rock-boy?"

            Seeming to know that his clients were growing anxious, the Gotsumon called back nervously, "It's not far from here, we should be there soon!"

            "We'd better," Ruki growled.

            The Gotsumon hadn't lied.  Just a few minutes later the group reached a large cave that seemed to be carved deep into the mountain.  All three stepped into the cavern and checked to make sure that there were no enemies waiting to ambush them.  

            Ruki and Renamon followed as the Gotsumon ran into the darkness and quietly called back for them to follow.  They traveled for a few minutes into the cavern, which grew wider as they went deeper towards the heart of the mountain.  Eventually Ruki noticed a faint glow in the distance, and it became brighter as they approached.  

            When they reached the source of the fire, Ruki peered around a curve in the cavern that opened into an even larger cavern.  There was a large fire in the middle of the grotto, and on the other side was a tunnel leading away from it.  On one side of the room was a group of seven Gotsumon, trembling in fear.  On the other, sitting against a wall, was what looked like a huge, yellow Gotsumon with spikes jetting from its back and metal plates covering its face and hands.  It had one of the Gotsumon and was laughing as it tossed it up in the air like some kind of ball.  

            "Heheh," it chuckled with a voice primitive and dumb, "what if I drop you little man?  Is your Sovereign going to save you then?"

            Ruki checked her D-Ark, which read, _Rockmon: Champion Level._

            She clasped the D-Ark tightly in her hand, and with the other pulled her shades from her pocket and placed them on her face.  The thrill of battle rushed to her brain.  She turned back to Renamon and smirked, "Let's rock!"  She pushed the Gotsumon away and it fell to the ground.  It glared back at her angrily and she replied, "Get out of here before you get hurt."  Then she stepped out from behind the curve of rock, revealing herself completely to the Rockmon.

            The group of seven imprisoned Gotsumon murmured and gasped.  Slowly, the Rockmon tilted its head to look at her with hateful eyes.  Ruki stared back into his, her face sparkling with confidence.  The giant rock creature let out a gravely snarl, "What are you doing here?"

            Ruki smirked at him and replied with a voice of steel, "Just looking for a good fight is all.  I was hoping we could find some data for my partner here to upload."  She motioned with her eyes to Renamon who stood beside her, eyes closed and mind deep in preparation for battle.

            "And you want these Gotsumon?"

            "Of course not, stupid, I'm here to delete you!"

            The Rockmon let out a feral growl and tossed the Gotsumon he had been using as a ball into the group of the other Gotsumon, bringing all of them down in a heap.  The earth shook as it rose from the ground, its height reaching nearly half the height of the room.  It took a step forward and said, "Just try it!"

            Ruki flipped the D-Ark around her hand and said, "Renamon…"

            The yellow fox's eyes burst open with an uncontrollable fire and she rushed the giant.  In one swift motion Renamon leapt into the air and placed her left shoulder in front of the rest of her body.  Her shoulder made hard contact with the Rockmon's chest and the blow sent him stumbling back a few steps, but did little damage.  After he recovered from the blow, the Rockmon swung one of his large fists at her.  Renamon leapt into the air and over the fist's trajectory.  She raised her arms and fired a Diamond Storm attack at the creature, hitting it directly in the face.  The shards seemed to bother him little, except for those that penetrated his eyes, causing his sight to be obscured. Renamon rebounded off the ground and placed a kick right in the creature's jaw, but was batted away in his furry to get the shards out of his eyes.  

            Ruki saw her partner take the fall, but her eyes remained cold.  She reached toward the cardholder on the back of the belt with her right hand and opened it.  She didn't even have to look at what card she had pulled, for she knew the deck's order by heart.  She held the card up in front of her face and said, "Let's crush this guy."  The she flipped the card through her fingers and crossed both arms, then pulled them together, swiping the card through the D-Ark.  The D-Ark burst with light as it received the information from the card and prepared to transmit it to Renamon's body.  "Digimodify…" Ruki yelled, the light from the D-Ark flashing on her face.  "Berserk Sword activate!"  With that the card and D-Ark separated and her hands flew out to the sides of her body, as if she were preparing to fly.  

            Renamon jumped to standing position as the light shot from the D-Ark and formed the silhouette of a sword in her hands.  Then the sword materialized.  It was enormous, almost as big as Renamon herself.  The gold and silver-plating of the sword reflected the light from the fire and caused it to shoot in all directions across the room.  Renamon pulled the sword back over her head and pounced at the Rockmon, letting out a warriors cry.  The Rockmon put up one of his arms to parry the blow, but it did no good.  The sword cut straight through the rock and completely severed the arm at the elbow.  The amputated appendage fell to the ground and disintegrated back into data.  Renamon followed up with the combination of a vertical slash that was blocked, and a horizontal swing intended to severe the beast's head.  In a fury and fit for his life, the Rockmon let out a blind swing to try and check the attack.  It clipped Renamon and the sword shot out of her hands.  It cascaded, point first, back in the direction of Ruki.  Without even a hint of surprise or fear, Ruki side-stepped to the left and the blade flew past her, impaling deep into the wall behind and then shattering into nothingness.  

            Renamon growled and jumped onto the Rockmon's face, tearing gouges in the rock with her claws.  The creature batted at her and knocked her to the ground.  He rubbed his torn face and looked down at the source of his misery.  He raised one of his legs to crush the life out of his enemy.  Ruki watched and for a split second fear shot through her heart, the fear of losing Renamon.  But that was all it lasted, survival instinct took over and she ripped another card from the deck on her belt.  "Time to even things up!" she snarled as she violently slashed the new card through the D-Ark.  "Digimodify…" her arms flew out again as light shot from the D-Ark to Renamon, "Digievolution Activate!" 

            A spherical digital field formed around Renamon as she slashed her claws and cried, "Renamon Digivolve to…" Then the process started.  The digital matter that made up Renamon disassociated and ripped from the frame of her body.  Then her data merged with the data she had claimed from her victims and her frame began to change in shape.  The data then plastered back onto her frame.  The digital field disassociated with a loud blast, revealing an entirely new entity.  It was a yellow fox, no longer humanoid, with nine large tails, white flaming fur at the end of each tail and around each paw.  A red and white striped ornament rounded her neck, forming two bows at each side of her head and jetting out in front of her body.  A series of diamond chains hung from the ornament underneath her neck.  Ying-yangs decorated each of her legs, as well as one adorning her head.  "Kyubimon," the newly formed Digimon cried, and dodged out of the way of the crashing leg meant to delete her.  

            Kyubimon landed next to the fire, and laughed.  She then closed her eyes, lowered her head, and raised all of her tails.  The room seemed to darken as all the light was absorbed into the tails and Kyubimon cried, "Fox Tail Inferno!" The light in her tails transformed into blue fire and shot forth from the tip of each tail.  Each of the flames seemed to have a life of its own, flitting back and forth around the cave.  But each knew its final destination, and in a synchronized attack bombarded the Rockmon, blasting out chunks of his rock body in the process.  

            The Rockmon let out a cry of pain and stumbled to his knees.  Renamon didn't even look at Ruki for the confirmation of her next move, she knew all to well what to do next.  Leaping once more into the air, she cried, "Dragon Wheel."  Kyubimon's tails began to burn with blue fire and she did a roll through the air.  As she did this, the fire formed into the head of a dragon.  The dragon's jaw opened, as if to eat the enemy, and completely engulfed the Rockmon in a smoldering aura.  The Rockmon let out a cry of defeat and despair as his body lost its structure and flowed into a stream of data.  Kyubimon made sure to absorb all of the data from her foe without thinking.  

            Ruki placed the cards she'd used back into the holder, making sure that they were at the back of the deck.  Then she clipped her D-Ark back onto her belt and walked to Kyubimon's side.  She placed her arm around the fox's neck and said, "You did great, Kyubimon, as always."

*******

            Ruki and Kyubimon decided that it would be best for Kyubimon to stay in her Champion form for the moment, at least until they defeated the last member of the gang.  The herd of Gotsumon surrounded the two warriors and constantly thanked the two for rescuing them.  Ruki clenched her eyes shut and stretched her lips in annoyance.  

            Kyubimon asked the Gotsumon where the final member of the gang was.  

            One of them replied, "He's down that tunnel," pointing to the carved hall on the opposite side of the cavern that they had entered from.  "He went down there to sleep."

            The Gotsumon returned to their praise of Ruki and Kyubimon, saying that they would leave the Sovereign and forever worship them.  Kyubimon, seeing Ruki's frustration, ordered the Gotsumon to go back to their village.  When they refused to cooperate, the large fox chased them out of the cavern, and then returned to her Tamer.

            Ruki stared down the rough walls of the tunnel, probably hewn from the trickles of rain that seeped through cracks in the surface for uncounted years.  There was no light at the end of this tunnel to guide them.  A faint trickling echoed off the walls and vibrated into her ears.  The tunnel seemed to have a dark, foreboding feeling to it.  She was tempted to turn back and leave the cave.  But then she shut her eyes and clenched her fist.  She was no coward, and she wasn't about to run from a fight because of some itch in her gut.  Kyubimon could handle anything, as long as she too was fearless and strong. 

Kyubimon stepped to Ruki's side, and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Ruki opened her eyes and cocked her head with a smirk, "Of course, Kyubimon.  He can't be any more powerful than the others, and we need as much fighting experience as we can get."

"And what about the Gotsumon?"

"What about them?"  She reached carefully toward the fire, and pulled a thick piece of burning wood from the flames.  Though the part she held had not been burned, it was still hot from the energy absorbed from the coals.  She held it above her head to use as a torch.  Kyubimon said nothing.

Solemnly, the two friends began to make their way through the tunnel.  The previous tunnel they had traveled had had a layer of dirt and ground stone padding their footsteps, keeping them from alerting their enemies to early.  But the floor of this tunnel was pure rock, and with each step Ruki took the metal toes of her shoes clinked on the stone and echoed down the hall.  Despite an effort to walk on the heels of her feet, in hope of dimming the melody of metal rubbing against rock, it was no use.  After they had gone just a few steps down the tunnel, Ruki decided it would be best if she just rode on Kyubimon's back.  

The tunnel was wide and tall, yet it still managed to make Ruki feel somewhat claustrophobic.  There wasn't a lot of room to fight in here, should their enemy attack.  She hoped that the leader of the gang wasn't some dinosaur that would shoot fireballs out of his mouth.  If it were, both she and Kyubimon would be at risk of incineration if a fireball came their way.  There was no side to dive to, and no boulders to hide behind.  They would have to face the brunt of the fireball with stern hearts and rigid bodies.  Ruki patted the card deck on her pocket.  There was always the possibility that she could block the attack with one of the cards… if she had enough time.

As time passed and they traveled further down the tunnel, the dripping sound became louder.  The sound began to separate from that one single sound, to many in some chorus of dripping.  The rhythm was mixed, some drips sounding more frequently than others.  

Then the tunnel widened into another cavern.  This cavern was far larger than the one they had just visited.  The path on which they traveled curved along the side of an underground lake, heading up toward the continuation of the tunnel.  Beams of light from the torch reflected off the water illuminated the entire cave with a fiery glow.  Sharp stalactites peered from the ceiling of the cavern like the teeth of some large beast.

Kyubimon stepped over a small stream that flowed from the lake, over the path, and down a crevice that led deep into the earth.  Ruki's heart raced when she heard a splash in the water, but she quickly calmed herself, thinking that it was only some kind of fish, if there were fish in this dreamlike world.  

They left the drowned cavern, the dripping continuing to echo behind them, and it was just a short distance till the tunnel opened up into another cavern.  This cavern wasn't nearly as large as the one with the lake.  At its center was a large pit.  In the bottom of the pit, using a large rock as a pillow, was the final member of the band, sleeping and oblivious to the threat of deletion that now haunted him.    
            It was a giant, much bigger than the Rockmon they'd just defeated.  Shaggy blue hair cascaded from the top of its head and down to its shoulders.  A hideous, gray skull mask covered its face.  It had a humanoid form and its shirtless chest had a muscular build that even the best body builders could only dream of achieving.  Heavy iron chains were wrapped around its chest and arms.  It had black pants with stripes of red fire traveling up them.  Enormous black boots shielded its feet.  White skulls were painted on the tip of each boot.  A fiery aura burned around its body.  It let out a loud snore that shook the room.

            "Whoa, he's ugly," Ruki whispered to Kyubimon as she quietly leapt off and held up her D-Ark.  The holographic image of the Digimon in front of them shone from the screen.  Underneath the image read, _SkullMeramon: Ultimate level._

            Ruki growled quietly in frustration.  She had hoped that this one would also be a champion level, which would almost guarantee them a win.  Fighting an Ultimate would be difficult without Taomon.  If she fought this monster, Kyubimon could get hurt or killed, and she could too.  She thought about the Gotsumon.  The little colony of stone creatures could accompany them, and just leave behind the threat of this Digimon.  She gritted her teeth angrily.  She hated more than anything to walk away from a fight, but it wasn't worth it if they didn't come out of the fight alive.  They had no other choice than to retreat.  Ruki turned her back to the SkullMeramon and hung her head.

            Kyubimon approached her, "What do you want to do Ruki?"

            Ruki quietly sighed, "We're leaving, he's too powerful."

            Kyubimon nodded and bent down for Ruki to mount her back.  Ruki jumped on, and stared into the darkness ahead, her face hot with the humiliation of having to retreat.  The nine-tailed fox walked away from the pit, heading toward the exit that would lead back to the flooded room.   But as Kyubimon passed close to a wall, an overhanging rock snagged Ruki's backpack, and pulled her off the Digimon's back.  Ruki hit the ground with a loud thump and let out a groan of pain and surprise, dropping the torch, which clattered down into the pit.  The grown, though she had tried to muffle it, and the noise caused by the torch, echoed loudly through the cavern.  

Ruki gasped in horror as the eyes of the SkullMeramon shot open.  The monster stood to its feet and glared at the two intruders.  A deep, guttural growl rumbled from its lips.  It jumped and landed just a few feet in front of the intruders.  Ruki had expected it to say something dumb, but instead it just raised its fist in preparation to crush her.  Her eyes widened as the fist accelerated toward her.  She heard Kyubimon yell, "Ruki!"  Then she felt something crash into her chest, lifting her and carrying her away from the targeted ground, which was shattered by the fist's blow.  

            Kyubimon set Ruki down and quickly turned around to face the enemy.  Ruki didn't take anytime to reflect on her narrow escape of death, but threw her backpack down and got into fighting stance, pulling her D-Ark from her belt and unbuttoning her cardholder.

            There was no turning back now, they were caught in a fight they couldn't back out of.  They had to win, there were no losers in this game because only the winners survived.  "Let's get him Kyubimon!" she screamed angrily.  

            Kyubimon nodded and leapt towards her enemy.  She rolled into a ball and began to glow with the cool blue fire that formed into the dragon's head.  "Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon cried as the dragon's mouth went to engulf the SkullMeramon.  The SkullMeramon countered with a smack at the fire, extinguishing it.  Kyubimon landed, growling angrily that the attack had failed.  

            Ruki pulled a card from the deck on her belt.  She slashed it through the D-Ark and cried, "Digimodify… Accelerator activate!"

            A green glow formed around Kyubimon and she shot from the ground.  Her speed had quadrupled, and she was nothing but a yellow blur as she ricocheted off the walls of the cavern, appearing behind the SkullMeramon's back.  Before the enemy had a chance to turn around, Kyubimon used another Dragon Wheel attack.  This time the attack connected, crashing into the back of the enemy's head.  He was sent sprawling to his knees, and grunted more from surprise than pain.  Kyubimon land again behind the SkullMeramon, and raised her tails.  "Fox Tail Inferno!"  The fireballs shot from her tails towards the head of her enemy, who had enough time to deflect the fireballs back at her.

            "Kyubimon!" cried Ruki as her partner dodged the series of blasts, only to be hit in the back by a stray one.  

            The SkullMeramon bent back his neck and cried, "Metal Fireball!"  A spray of crimson flames shot from his mouth, heading straight for the dazed Kyubimon.  

            Ruki pulled the next card out of the holder and swiped it as fast as she could, "Digimodify… Brave Shield activate!"

            A large, golden shield with the Crest of Courage formed in front of Kyubimon.  The stream of fire hit the shield, and blasted apart, dealing Kyubimon no damage.  The SkullMeramon bent back in surprise and cried with a husky voice, "How can you do this?"  

            Ruki, overcome with confidence, laughed, "Because you're a pathetic weakling!"

            The SkullMeramon growled angrily, and then dropped a length of chain from one of his arms.  With furious strength, he began to swing the chain in a circular motion.  Then he yelled, "Heat Chain!" and brought the chain down on top of the shielded Kyubimon.  The shield shattered, and the blow sent Kyubimon crashing into the cavern wall.  She bounced few times and then came to rest on the hard stone.

            Kyubimon lay battered and bruised, not moving.  Ruki gasped.  The SkullMeramon, thinking his foe defeated, turned to Ruki.  He began swing the chain again, aiming at the Tamer.

            Ruki was paralyzed with terror.  Her brain told her legs to run, but they only responded by shaking.  The SkullMeramon grinned and sent the chain in her direction as forcefully as he could.  

            The blow hit the ground and rent a large pit where the girl was standing.  Yet her body was not there as evidence of his victory.  Kyubimon had dashed in just in time, and Ruki had grabbed onto the fox's back.  The two friends were now fleeing from the battle.

            Ruki yelled to Renamon, "Thanks, we have to get out of here!"

            "I don't know how much energy I have left, Ruki.  I'm not sure I can make it," Kyubimon replied as the two dashed down the tunnel, away from the SkullMeramon.  

            There was a loud crash, and Ruki looked back to see the enemy following them.  She yelled at Kyubimon to try and run faster, but the enemy was quickly catching up.  They entered the cavern with the lake in it.  Kyubimon's feet sent water spraying as she rushed down the path.

            "Heavy Metal Fire," cried the SkullMeramon behind them.  Ruki stared in horror as she saw the blast of flames come crashing toward them.  She had little time to react, and did the only thing she could think of.  She ripped the entire cardholder off of her belt and threw it and the D-Ark as far ahead of them as possible.  Then the fireball hit them.  Ruki was thrown from Kyubimon's back, her entire body coated with fire.  The shades on her face fell to the ground and shattered.  She didn't feel the searing pain of flesh burning, only the sorrow of the end.  Time seemed to slow as she flew through the air.  Her eyes twitched to see Kyubimon, covered with flames, go crashing into the water.  The fox did not rise and float on the water, but sank, too weary to swim.  Ruki closed her eyes in defeat.  They had lost, and now both of them were going to be deleted into the darkness of death.  She felt hatred for the SkullMeramon.  He would probably go down and destroy the surviving Gotsumon now.  Sorrow burned her heart.  Though she had never thought it possible, she longed to see the faces of the friends she had recently.  She had never acknowledged them as friends, and now it was too late to do so.  She wanted to see her Grandmother again, and apologize to her mother for not being the model daughter she desired.  Her last thoughts were of Kyubimon, and how she wished that at least her friend could escape alive.  Then she crashed into the ground, her head hitting the wall of the cavern in the process.  Consciousness left her, and she faded into the blackness…

*******

            The blackness, that's all there was.  She opened her eyes and looked at the setting around her.  She was in the cavern.  The water was still trickling.  There seemed to be a light breeze, and she thought of how abnormal that was considering how far into the mountain they were.  There was no sign of the SkullMeramon, or of Kyubimon.  The cavern seemed dark, darker than it would have normally been, even without the torch.  She rose to her feet and then remembered the fire that clung to her body.  She bent to brush it out, but it wasn't there.  She was in her normal clothes, and there wasn't a singe on them.  

            That was when she noticed the glowing.  She looked to her feet and gasped.  There was a body there, still burning in the red flames.  It was not being consumed, the flesh did not melt and the hair did not crackle.  The cherry hair was mangled and the eyes on the face were closed.  She realized that the body was her own.  Did this mean she was… dead?

            Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.  She wanted to scream, fight or even plea her way out of this nightmare.  But she couldn't bring herself to do anything.  "W-where am I?" she managed to quietly choke.

            Then, as if on cue, a light formed at the top of the cavern.  Shards of light began to fall like snow, hitting the water and making small splashes.  The girl stared in amazement and fear at the raining light.  Then a new radiance, not the same as the falling shards, but similar to the brilliance of the sun formed.  

            There was a low rumble and then a male voice called to her, "What are you doing here?"  The voice echoed, but differently than if it had echoed off the walls of the cavern.  It had an almost dreamlike tone to it.     

            "I-I don't know," she replied after a short hesitation.

            "Do you know where you are?"

            "No.  Who-who are you?"

            "That does not matter."

            "Oh."  She hung her head at the reprimand.

            "What are you searching for, what was it that drove you here?"

            Her face became stern, "I want perfection."

            "Why?"

            She thought for a moment, "Because I'm weak."

            "How?"

            She answered angrily, "I can't even get Kyubimon to Digivolve without the help of Calumon!"

            "You are more powerful than you realize, Ruki.  Deep in your heart lies the passion you share for those you love.  You have a desire to help those weaker than yourself.  You can never reach perfection, no one can.  Your weakness is your desire for perfection.  Use your strengths for purposes other than those that benefit yourself.  You are among the most powerful souls to live, use it to help others, not dominate them.  Did you really come here for more fighting experience?  Or did you come because you really wanted to help those weak creatures out there?"

            Ruki thought about this and answered, failure twisted in her voice, "I guess that when Ryou did a better job of taking care of Takato's friends than I did, I felt worthless.  So when I saw that these Gotsumon needed help, I felt like I was being given a second chance."

            The voice seemed to chuckle with approval, "Yes.  You seek perfection so that you will not fail others when they need you.  You are a guardian, Ruki.  A very rare soul destined to be the protector of the weak.  Do not forget that…"  The voice began to fade and the echoes died.  

"Wait," she cried, "Who are you and why are you helping me?"  There was no answer.  The rain of light into the water began to lessen, and then stopped entirely.  Then the cavern was pitch black once again.  

            The girl peered through the darkness around her.  Was she really some kind of guardian?  She had never thought of that.  For some reason, she had always sought only to become stronger.  She had preyed on the weak in the beginning with a cruel and hard heart.  She had done that to prove her superiority.  But now she realized it.  One who is truly powerful serves others, and not themselves.  That was what she was, a guardian.  It was up to her to protect those Gotsumon from the domination of that SkullMeramon.

            A loud roaring sound flooded the room and Ruki's eyes widened as the water from the lake began to swirl into a column.  The wind inside the cavern raged and Ruki had to fight not be blown into the water.  The spiral of water hovered in the air for a few moments, and then crashed down on her like a tidal wave.  Everything went white…

*******

            Her eyes flashed open, and she stared at her glowing enemy.  He was standing victoriously over his battered enemies.  Ruki realized that barely an instant had passed for the dream.  She stood to her feet and looked down at her body, which was glowing with blue flames.  The fire had completely burned off all of her clothes, which were nothing but ashes at her feet.  She had risen from the ashes.  Surprise took her for a moment as she realized that she should be burned to a cinder by the flames.  But as she stood there, completely naked and blue flames spiraling from her body, she realized that the flames were being generated by her, not consuming her.

            Then she remembered Kyubimon, and looked to the water.  It was rippling in the spot where she had sunk.  She didn't think of the D-Ark or Modifying cards, only of the fastest way to save her friend.  The fire from her body began to thrash violently and she cried, "Kyubimon!"

            The cavern began to rumble, and the SkullMeramon gaped at the girl.  She had closed her eyes and the flames were leaping from her body uncontrollably.  Then the water from the lake began to form enormous waves.  These waves began to weave themselves together into one giant column that reached the entire height of the cavern.  It hovered there for a moment, and then the waves came crashing back down into the water.  Remaining was a fox unlike Kyubimon.  This one was much more humanoid than Renamon.  It wore a baggy white and purple robe with a large ying-yang embroidered on the chest.  There were black stripes painted under its eyes and diamonds tattooed on its forehead.  

            "Taomon!" Ruki cried with joy.  

            The SkullMeramon yelled furiously and leapt into the air.  It swung its chain in Taomon's direction.  Taomon disappeared right before the chain would have hit her.  It soared on and hit the ceiling, tearing a few of the stalactites down crashing into the water.  The SkullMeramon landed back on the path and then slammed his fist into the wall of the cavern.  Vibrations rung loudly through the cavern and all of the remaining stalactites on the ceiling began to fall.  Taomon rematerialized by Ruki's side and cried, "Talisman Spell!"  A ying-yang appeared beneath the Digimon and Ruki as a shield formed around them.  Each of the stalactites that would have hit them crashed into the barrier and shattered.  Some of the falling spikes headed toward the SkullMeramon who punched them with his fist to avoid being impaled.

When the spikes had stopped falling, Taomon left the protected circle, which began to disassociate.  She flew toward the center of the cavern.  Once there, she continued her attack.  "Thousands of Spells," she cried and hundreds of cards began to shoot from the sleeves of her arms.  The shower of cards hit the SkullMeramon, each exploding as it hit his chest.  The series of blasts pushed him back against the wall, and he grunted angrily.  

He cried out in frustration, "Heavy Metal Fire!" and sent a spray of fire from his mouth.  Taomon dodged the attack, but was still clipped by the flames on one of her sleeves.  But she did not faulter, and remained concentrated on the battle.  

Ruki stood firm, the blue flames continued to poor from her body.  She could feel her strength transferring to Taomon.  She felt every move that Taomon made, and every pain that Taomon suffered.  She refused to give up and let her friend get hurt.  She yelled, "You can do it Taomon!" 

"It's time to end this," Taomon answered.  She pulled a paintbrush almost the length of herself from one of her sleeves and held it out in front of her.  With a few brisk strokes, a black paint coated the air in the form of a Japanese symbol.  "Talisman of Light!" cried Taomon as the black paint turned white and shot a beam of light toward the SkullMeramon.  The SkullMeramon gasped as the beam of light tore through his chest and burned into the wall of the cavern.  He dropped to his knees, choking in agony.  Then his body began to dissolve into a stream of data.  Taomon glowed and absorbed the data.  

            Ruki stared at her partner and best friend as the fox landed next to her and began to glow.  Then Taomon reverted into Renamon.  The blue fire that had been emitted from Ruki's body calmed and then died.  Ruki's naked skin now felt damp and chilled.

"Are you alright?" Renamon asked.

            "I'm fine, Renamon, thank you."

            "You were on fire, why aren't you burned?"

            "I-I don't know.  Some one helped me I guess."

            Renamon smiled, "Interesting, I'll have to thank them someday.  You gave me the strength to Digivolve Ruki.  I thought all was lost as I was floating towards the bottom of that lake, but then I felt an incredible amount of power surge through my body."

            Ruki smirked, "We did it together, Renamon."  She walked across the path to where her D-Ark and Modifying cards lay, neither had been harmed by the fire attack.  The two partners went back to the cavern where the SkullMeramon had been sleeping and found Ruki's backpack.  She opened it and pulled out some extra clothes she had brought.

*******

            The two emerged from the cave.  It was now morning and the light was shinning brightly across the land.  Ruki glanced up at the planet inhabiting the sky.  It was a little smaller now, as if it had moved a little during the course of the night.  They were greeted with cheers and thanks from the Gotsumon.

            Ruki glared at the small, rock Digimon and said coldly, "I thought I told you to go back to your village and start rebuilding it."

            "We couldn't leave you," one cried as the group dropped to their knees.  "You are truly a goddess and we are your humble servants!"

            Ruki rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I'm not a goddess and I don't need or want your service." The Gotsumon continued to praise her.  Ruki sighed in frustration.  "If you want to be of service, go back and start rebuilding your home.  Do yourselves a favor, forget about me and keep supporting the Sovereign so he doesn't turn against you."

            One of the Gotsumon looked at her, "Will you help us rebuild?"

            She shot an icy glare at the Gotsumon, "I'm a guardian, not an architect.  Renamon…"  Renamon chased the Gotsumon down the path to the ruins of their village and then returned to Ruki.  "Let's go," Ruki said as the two began to head in the opposite direction of the village.

*******

            The Gotsumon were digging through the rubble of their houses, trying to find any building material that might have been salvageable.  One of the Gotsumon sighed and stared up at the floating planet.  It was hot and hard work digging through the rubble.  Then he glanced towards the woods and saw two lone standing figures.  One was a tall, yellow fox Digimon.  The other was a girl with her arms crossed, and whose cherry hair swayed in the breeze.  He let out a cry of joy and called to the other Gotsumon as he ran towards the figures.  "Our goddess, you've come back!"

            Ruki smiled as the Gotsumon approached.  "I guess we could help you rebuild," she offered.  Then her smile faded back into the usual tough frown she always wore.  "But just for a little while.  You're lucky I'm in a good mood.  And one last thing… call me Ruki."  The Gotsumon laughed joyfully as group returned to the village and began the tedious task of rebuilding.  They danced and sung in celebration for the return of their goddess. 

            Sharp eyes perched on top of the mountain watched the celebrating take place below.  They had been watching her ever since her coming to the Digital World.  The crimson and orange fiery feathers of its many wings danced with the wind.  Its scaly, red tale slashed back and forth like that of a dog.  The creature leapt of the peak and flapped its wings violently through the air.  It kept its fierce eyes fixed on the girl below, but it would have to take them away for a while.  "The Sovereign will not be pleased that she is growing so powerful," the creature hissed to itself.  It fluttered towards the planet in the sky, and then cut down toward a distant forest.  Then it disappeared into the distant horizon.

_Author's Note: What do you think?  This was my portrayal of Ruki, who is probably the most complex character the show has ever produced.  What do you think of the way I portrayed her?  I hope that I didn't make her too soft in the end.  This is supposed to be a short story, but I added that little thingy at the end in case I ever want to expand it.  I hope that you liked it. ^^_


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